Mayo: Just say no to $90 million Florida subsidy for Dolphins stadium

The Dolphins are moving fast and furious to raid the public till for improvements to their private stadium, saying they need funding secured by the NFL owners meetings in May to land Super Bowl 50 or 51.

In my mind, the team’s request to siphon off $3 million a year in state sales tax for 30 years is the most perverse part of the plan. Hiking a hotel bed tax in mainland Miami-Dade is one thing, because it mainly comes from the pockets of tourists.

But this funding – a rebate on sales tax generated from goods and services purchased at Sun Life Stadium – would otherwise go to the state’s general budget. You know, things like schools, universities, health programs for the sick and elderly and other social services.

It’s the worst kind of corporate welfare/reverse Robin Hood situation imaginable, robbing from the needy to help the wealthy.

And just because the state has been doing better financially lately, with unexpected growth in tax revenues, doesn’t mean we should give it away to those who don’t really need it.

The team’s lobbyist, Ron Book, told senators on Tuesday that this type of state largesse for sports teams has been done before. And that’s true. Many teams and facilities have landed $2 million annual rebates under existing law meant to stimulate the sports economy and tourism (like for baseball spring training facilities). But this legislation carves out a new added subsidy, crafted especially for the Dolphins, and you can just bet it will set off a stampede from other teams for similar handouts.

Besides, legislators need to remind themselves that they aren’t judges: unlike the court system, precedent means nothing here. Just because something ridiculous has been done in the past is no excuse for doing it again.

It always amazes me how the tail wags the dog in these sports welfare situations. A supremely wealthy owner (billionaire Stephen Ross) in a supremely successful sports league (the NFL) want something from us, and they create a frenzy that we MUST ACT NOW, like it’s for our own good.

Sorry, but if you want a partial roof and other fancy amenities, you can pay for it yourself (and then sock it to stadium users in the form of higher ticket and concession prices).

And if you’re going to say the Super Bowl or college championship games won’t return without this “community investment”, I say the Big Games will surely miss South Florida in winter more than we’ll miss them. (By the way NFL, have fun freezing with your next Super Bowl – at outdoor MetLife Stadium in New Jersey next February).

If Miami-Dade commissioners want to give the Dolphins a hotel-tax handout, that’s their business. But when the Dolphins want to carve out a bigger slice of the pie from the state budget, that’s something that offends me as a Floridian.

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